stevez wrote:We're going to Mirabella for an early New Years Eve dinner. I really like the place. After reading about your dinner, I'm looking forward to it even more. Thanks for the forespice. Happy New Year.

Right back 'atcha. I know the service can be a little frenetic there during peak times, so I'll be curious to hear how it goes.

G Wiv wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:and the peas were taut.

And just under the wire for 2017 Ronnie_Suburban delivers the culinary descriptor of the year! Well done my friend, well done indeed.

Hehe - I callz 'em like I seez 'em!

=R=

I am not interested in how I would evaluate the Springbank in a blind tasting. Every spirit has its story, and I include it in my evaluation, just as I do with human beings. --Thad Vogler

stevez wrote:We're going to Mirabella for an early New Years Eve dinner. I really like the place. After reading about your dinner, I'm looking forward to it even more. Thanks for the forespice. Happy New Year.

Right back 'atcha. I know the service can be a little frenetic there during peak times, so I'll be curious to hear how it goes.

Mirabella was the perfect choice for us on NYE. Our plan was to eat early (6:30 reservations), then head home to celebrate. Service was good, despite the restaurant being full by 7:15 or so.

We started off with shrimp DeJonghe as an appetizer (sorry, no picture). It was a pretty good version, though it could have used more breadcrumbs to thicken the sauce.

I've been to Mirabella probably 6 - 7 times and have always ordered a rib eye steak, but this time I decided to switch thing up a little bit and went with veal parmesan. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was.

Mirabella Veal Parmesan

The Chow Poodle went with Chicken Vesuvio, partially on Ronnie's recommendation, and she was more than happy with her choice, declaring it one of the best versions in the city. Personally, I would describe the peas as nubile. Nice and taught, with a few cute dimples...but I digress.

Just returned from a very enjoyable party of nine family dinner at Mirabella.

Backstory from the maitre d' is that the former owner of German-based Mirabell is friends with the current Mirabella owner, therefore somewhat humorously, some of the Germanic visual influences remain. But the fare is all Chicago-style southern Italian, somewhat in the Gene & Georgetti's/Oakley Ave. vein. Actually, Mirabella reminds me--in atmosphere & cuisine--of a few of the 'goombah' joints I used to frequent in the Elmwood Park/Melrose Park/River Forest area back in the day. In a good way, of course.

Mirabella, formerly Mirabell

Pics not the best, but soldiering on...openers were grilled calamari and mussels marinara, the former in a light gravy redolent of garlic with a little heat, nice rendition indeed.

The chicken Vesuvio demands special mention as a litmus test of mine, 'nubile peas' notwithstanding. This was a fine version, doing the best balance between being dry as opposed to too oily, and not too garlicky. I liked this a lot.

All in all, not earth-changing but right off the Kennedy at Addison, free parking across the street at K-Mart, reasonable prices and as good a value as you'll get in the city. I'll be back, for sure. As Gary says, count me a fan!

jnm123 wrote:All in all, not earth-changing but right off the Kennedy at Addison, free parking across the street at K-Mart, reasonable prices and as good a value as you'll get in the city. I'll be back, for sure. As Gary says, count me a fan!

Since it's in the same general "neck of the woods" as Sabatino's, and seems to have (judging from the pix) similar offerings, how would you rate it compared to that? Better, worse, tie?

jnm123 wrote:All in all, not earth-changing but right off the Kennedy at Addison, free parking across the street at K-Mart, reasonable prices and as good a value as you'll get in the city. I'll be back, for sure. As Gary says, count me a fan!

Since it's in the same general "neck of the woods" as Sabatino's, and seems to have (judging from the pix) similar offerings, how would you rate it compared to that? Better, worse, tie?

Completely different. Although both places share a few dishes on their menus, Sabatino's is an old school Italian restaurant, Mirabella is more of a steakhouse with some Italian dishes on the menu. Different vibes, too.

Mirabella runs circles around Sabatino's, which IMO has been resting on its laurels for the last several years. It's certainly much better value for money when you consider that their price points aren't that far apart.

All in all, I'm thankful Mirabella decided not to follow certain folks' advice to pack it in before they had even opened.

Last edited by Drover on January 19th, 2018, 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

jnm123 wrote:All in all, not earth-changing but right off the Kennedy at Addison, free parking across the street at K-Mart, reasonable prices and as good a value as you'll get in the city. I'll be back, for sure. As Gary says, count me a fan!

Since it's in the same general "neck of the woods" as Sabatino's, and seems to have (judging from the pix) similar offerings, how would you rate it compared to that? Better, worse, tie?

Yeah, I'll go along with Steve's assessment. Apples & oranges, Italian-style. Haven't been to Sabatino in a few years and looking at their menu there are similarities like the inclusion of soup or salad with entrees. But Mirabella is less demographically geriatric, more families and clientele indicative of the neighborhood.

The above pic of the filet was my buddy's entree, which he deemed as very good, cooked to perfection. He was for many years a 'yuge' fan of the filet at (RIP) Monastero's--in fact it was the only beef he'd consume. And while he wouldn't say completely that Mirabella is a worthy replacement, I think he may come around to a certain extent after the mourning period is over.

Just last night, I found a doggie bag in the fridge--it was the remnants of my wife's Rigatoni Country-Style, which was with pork fennel sausage and sweet peas (again wit' da peas!) in a tomato-cream sauce that reminded me of Luciano's Fusilli at Bruna's on Oakley Ave. Great stuff.

Still not a huge fan of the German/Italian motif, and from reading the rest of the thread here I may not wholly believe that 'friends' thing between the former and current owner that the maitre d' explained to me upthread. But the quality of the fare can't be denied, and my whole group was happy, satiated and eager to return in the near future.

jnm123 wrote:. . . Still not a huge fan of the German/Italian motif, and from reading the rest of the thread here I may not wholly believe that 'friends' thing between the former and current owner that the maitre d' explained to me upthread. But the quality of the fare can't be denied, and my whole group was happy, satiated and eager to return in the near future.

I would guess there is at least some truth in the maitre d's story. Jeff and Arturo got pretty tight during the ownership transition, and technically Jeff is still a partner until Arturo can secure a loan to buy him out outright.

It's probably closer to the truth that Arturo thought the premises would suffice as is and didn't want to invest a lot more money in converting it to something more conspicuously Italian, or at least less conspicuously German. But given that he chose to honor the previous establishment by basically keeping its name, the story about keeping part of the previous decor intact seems plausible to me.

I was "this close" to nominating Mirabella for a GNR (and I'd likely still support a nomination made by someone else) but a recent experience there was sub-par and has me pumping the brakes just a bit. It was probably just a bad night but a couple of main courses were cooked poorly and I fear there are consistency issues here. Appetizers and sides were great, as was one of the steaks we ordered. However, a second steak was cooked way beyond how it was ordered and the Chicken Vesuvio, about which I'd raved upthread, was overcooked, while the potatoes on the plate were undercooked.

I'm going to continue my bi-monthly visits because there's a lot to love here, especially the service which is remarkably friendly. But when I think about how a lot of people use the GNR list, I'd be concerned about adding Mirabella at this point in time.

=R=

I am not interested in how I would evaluate the Springbank in a blind tasting. Every spirit has its story, and I include it in my evaluation, just as I do with human beings. --Thad Vogler

Steve, if you're up for it, try that grilled calamari appetizer (horribly pictured above) in what's almost a diavolo gravy. Really interesting, almost Sicilian, haven't had anything similar since the (long-closed) Sicily Restaurant on Harlem south of Diversey. Now that was a hangout for 'da boys'...

ronnie_suburban wrote:However, a second steak was cooked way beyond how it was ordered and the Chicken Vesuvio, about which I'd raved upthread, was overcooked, while the potatoes on the plate were undercooked.=R=

Did you mention this to the waitstaff, if so, how did they/kitchen respond?

ronnie_suburban wrote:However, a second steak was cooked way beyond how it was ordered and the Chicken Vesuvio, about which I'd raved upthread, was overcooked, while the potatoes on the plate were undercooked.=R=

Did you mention this to the waitstaff, if so, how did they/kitchen respond?

We did not and based on my previous experiences, I'm guessing they would have been entirely accommodating. But it was decided that asking for entrees to be re-fired would have thrown our timeline completely out of sync.

=R=

I am not interested in how I would evaluate the Springbank in a blind tasting. Every spirit has its story, and I include it in my evaluation, just as I do with human beings. --Thad Vogler

So last night's visit was as good as ever. I didn't feel like having a steak, so I went with pasta instead, more specifically, Rigatoni Country Style (Pork fennel sausage, sweet peas, in a tomato cream sauce, romano cheese), which was cooked perfectly al dente with a great tasting sauce featuring some really good crumbled sausage. The rest of my party had salmon vesuvio, which was a revelation, and a nice change of pace from chicken, whitefish Greek style and chicken piccata. Everything was cooked just right, including the vesuvio potatoes in the salmon dish, and the service was excellent, as usual. No downhill alert here at all.